Meet The Pro-Hitler German Politician Who Was Just Elected To European Parliament

Udo Voigt, a leader of the far right-wing National
Democratic Party of Germany who
has been accused of praising Hitler as a "great man," was
elected to European Parliament Sunday.

Voigt was the NDP's chief candidate as the party grabbed 1%
of the German vote for the European Union elections and
became the NDP's first rep in the body, which approves EU-wide
legislation and elects EU commissioners.

Voigt's record of right-wing activism has been the subject of
numerous controversies.

According to Agence
France-Presse, Voigt is the son of a Nazi assault
division member. Deutsche Welle reported he
was convicted for
circulating pamphlets during the 2006 World Cup, "insinuating
that a black player was not worthy to play for Germany's national
team which they said should be made up of whites only."

"The pamphlet referred to defender Patrick Owomoyela who was born
of a German mother and a Nigerian father. The flyers showed the
German team's traditional white jersey imprinted with the No. 25
- worn then by Owomoyela - over the title: 'White, not just a
jersey color! For a real NATIONAL team!'" the DW report
continued.

Voigt was also reportedly convicted in 2004 of promoting
Nazism after he called Hitler "a great man" and "questioned
the number of Holocaust deaths and demanded the return of
German land lost after World War II," according
to English-language German news publication The Local.

"He also received a four-month suspended jail sentence for
inciting violence after calling in a 1998 campaign speech for
voters to engage in 'armed combat,'" the report noted.

Many European countries have laws criminalizing both Holocaust
denial and the promotion of Nazi ideology. Germany and Austria
have particularly vigorous enforcement of these laws.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel
called the strong showing of Voigt and other right-wing
populists in Sunday's elections “remarkable, and also
regrettable." Her spokesman
further labeled the NDP as “an anti-democratic,
xenophobic, anti-Semitic, anti-constitutional party.”

Voigt did not
immediately respond to a request for comment from Business
Insider.